Most of us don't think much about soil, let alone its health. But as Earth Day approaches, it's time to recommend some skin care for Mother Nature. Restoring soil fertility is one of humanity's best options for making progress ...

Genetic studies in mice have identified a molecular mechanism crucial to maintaining egg cells in a dormant state to ensure female fertility. This work by A*STAR identifies a potential method to prevent infertility when the ...

Bread is often called the staff of life, but that label might be more accurately applied to nitrogen, the element that soil bacteria pluck from the atmosphere and chemically alter to help spur the growth of plants, which ...

In the second half of the 20th century, the mass use of fertilizer was part of an agricultural boom called the "green revolution" that was largely credited with averting a global food crisis. Now, the challenge of feeding ...

(Phys.org)—A small team of researchers affiliated with the University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska has found that cross-cousin breeding among the Yanomamö people in the Amazon rain forest is beneficial to ...

Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds applied to promote plant and fruit growth. Fertilizers are usually applied either through the soil (for uptake by plant roots) or, by foliar feeding (for uptake through leaves).

Fertilizers can be placed into the categories of organic fertilizers (composed of decayed plant/animal matter), or inorganic fertilizers (composed of simple chemicals and minerals). Organic fertilizers are 'naturally' occurring compounds, such as peat, manufactured through natural processes (such as composting), or naturally occurring mineral deposits; inorganic fertilizers are manufactured through chemical processes (such as the Haber process), also using naturally occurring deposits, while chemically altering them (e.g. concentrated triple superphosphate).

Properly applied, organic fertilizers can improve the health and productivity of soil and plants, as they provide different essential nutrients to encourage plant growth. Organic nutrients increase the abundance of soil organisms by providing organic matter and micronutrients for organisms such as fungal mycorrhiza, which aid plants in absorbing nutrients. Chemical fertilizers may have long-term adverse impact on the organisms living in soil[citation needed] and a detrimental long term effect on soil productivity of the soil[citation needed].